Decision details

Debates are one of the most frequent items of business on the Plenary agenda. Many types of debate are brought forward in Plenary, including:

• Opposition party debates on a topic of their choice;

Other than in the case of Government debates, the time allocated for all other types of debates and their frequency are determined by the Business Committee

Item started at 16.55

 

Voting on the motion and amendments under this item was deferred until Voting Time.

 

A vote was taken on the motion without amendment:

 

NDM4887 Jocelyn Davies (South Wales East)

 

The National Assembly for Wales:

 

1. Notes the intention of the Welsh Government to introduce banding for both secondary and primary schools in Wales;

 

2. Believes that banding does not provide a whole view of a school’s performance and its use should be limited to securing the necessary support for any school to improve in those areas measured by banding;

 

3. Calls on the Welsh Government to introduce a constructive evaluation process which leads to targeted support to remedy poor performance in schools.

 

For	Abstain	Against	Total
12	0	44	56

The motion without amendment was not agreed.

The following amendments were tabled:

Amendment 1 - William Graham (South Wales East)

 

Add as new point at end of motion:

 

Calls on the Welsh Government to monitor parent, teacher and Governor’s understanding of the banding system given concerns raised by teaching staff and take further explanatory action if required.

 

A vote was taken on Amendment 1:

For	Abstain	Against	Total
55	0	0	55

Amendment 1 was agreed.

Amendment 2 - Jane Hutt (Vale of Glamorgan)

 

Add as new point at end of motion:

 

Recognises moves by Local Authorities through consortia to reconfigure school improvement services and believes that support drawing on the expertise of leading practitioners should become a model throughout Wales.

 

A vote was taken on Amendment 2:

For	Abstain	Against	Total
44	0	12	56

Amendment 2 was agreed.

 

Amendment 3 - Jane Hutt (Vale of Glamorgan)

 

Add as new point at end of motion:

 

Believes that the quality of teaching and school leadership are the key drivers of school improvement and pays tribute to the work of the teaching profession in Wales for delivering rising standards over the last decade.

 

A vote was taken on Amendment 3:

For	Abstain	Against	Total
56	0	0	56

Amendment 3 was agreed.

 

Amendment 4 - Peter Black (South Wales West)

 

Add as new point at end of motion:

 

Believes that in concentrating on overall school performance this banding system fails to acknowledge the individual performances of pupils and departments within those schools.

 

A vote was taken on Amendment 4:

For	Abstain	Against	Total
17	0	39	56

Amendment 4 was not agreed.

 

Amendment 5 - Peter Black (South Wales West)

 

Add as new point at end of motion:

 

Is concerned that the Welsh Government has produced no specific guidance for how local authorities with a number of schools in Bands 3, 4, and 5 can make practical improvements.

 

A vote was taken on Amendment 5:

For	Abstain	Against	Total
27	0	29	56

Amendment 5 was not agreed.

 

A vote was taken on the motion as amended:

 

NDM4887 Jocelyn Davies (South Wales East)

 

The National Assembly for Wales:

 

1. Notes the intention of the Welsh Government to introduce banding for both secondary and primary schools in Wales;

 

2. Believes that banding does not provide a whole view of a school’s performance and its use should be limited to securing the necessary support for any school to improve in those areas measured by banding;

 

3. Calls on the Welsh Government to introduce a constructive evaluation process which leads to targeted support to remedy poor performance in schools.

 

4. Calls on the Welsh Government to monitor parent, teacher and Governor’s understanding of the banding system given concerns raised by teaching staff and take further explanatory action if required.

 

5. Recognises moves by Local Authorities through consortia to reconfigure school improvement services and believes that support drawing on the expertise of leading practitioners should become a model throughout Wales.

 

6. Believes that the quality of teaching and school leadership are the key drivers of school improvement and pays tribute to the work of the teaching profession in Wales for delivering rising standards over the last decade.

 

For	Abstain	Against	Total
44	0	12	56

The motion as amended was agreed.